Loreta Tauginiene | Kazimieras Simonavicius University (original) (raw)
Papers by Loreta Tauginiene
This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through lea... more This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning. This glossary could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through lea... more This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning. This glossary could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
Palgrave Communications, 2020
Citizen science evolved through multiple disciplinary manifestations into a new field of study an... more Citizen science evolved through multiple disciplinary manifestations into a new field of study and a participatory method of enquiry. While most citizen science projects take place within problem-focused natural sciences, social sciences and humanities help understanding the human dimension and open a broad methodological spectrum for enriching scientific research with new approaches and for boosting public participation. In this paper, we use a meta-synthesis approach to explore how citizen science is practised in the so far less addressed social sciences and humanities by focusing on the role of the citizens, the goals and approaches of the projects, the tasks in which citizens are engaged and their gains across projects of diverse disciplinary background. Our findings indicate that social sciences are gaining more acknowledgment within interdisciplinary citizen science projects by addressing 'wicked' problems of human behaviour and agency, while humanities are in quest of a better-defined locus in citizen science. We conclude that social sciences and humanities still face considerable barriers to infiltrate citizen science; the payoffs are substantial and already rewarding for several subfields in social sciences and humanities.
Aiškinamasis akademinio sąžiningumo terminų žodynas: vertimas į lietuvių kalbą
Journal of Academic Ethics, 2019
A clear understanding of terminology is crucial in any academic field. When it is clear that comp... more A clear understanding of terminology is crucial in any academic field. When it is clear that complex interdisciplinary concepts are interpreted differently depending on the academic field, geographical setting or cultural values, it is time to take action. Given this, the Glossary for Academic Integrity, newly developed by the European Network for Academic Integrity project, served as the basis for compiling a comprehensive taxonomy of terms related to academic integrity. Following a rigorous coding exercise, the taxon-omy was partitioned into three constituent components-Integrity, Misconduct and Neutral terms. A review of relevant literature sources is included, and the strengths and weaknesses of existing taxonomies are discussed in relation to this new offering. During the creation of these artefacts the authors identified and resolved many differences between their individual interpretative understandings of concepts/terms and the viewpoints of others. It is anticipated that the freely-available glossary and taxonomy will be explored and valued by researchers, teachers, students and the general public alike.
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2019
This report aims to enhance our understanding of stakeholder mapping for co-created citizen scien... more This report aims to enhance our understanding of stakeholder mapping for co-created citizen science initiatives. It presents and discusses findings from an international two-day stakeholder mapping workshop with researchers, event organizers, communication experts, and artists realizing citizen science activities. Participants identified examples of co-creation in their work and mapped stakeholders for three co-creation initiatives from the “Doing It Together Science” project. For each case, we provide an overview of the stakeholder groups involved and the lessons derived from identifying actual and potential stakeholders in different phases of each activity and using different ways for mapping them. We demonstrate that not only stakeholder mapping can be diverse, but it may take different angles depending on the characteristics and project timescales, nevertheless adding significant value to any project. We argue that a better understanding of stakeholder involvement may contribute to more effective stakeholder communication, more successful implementation, and a greater impact for citizen science initiatives.
Purpose - This paper aims to examine the use of online social networks by doctoral students. Des... more Purpose - This paper aims to examine the use of online social networks by doctoral students.
Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative online survey was conducted – 448 doctoral students from 15 universities and 11 research institutes in Lithuania were asked about their participation in both academic and non-academic online social networks.
Findings - The results show that despite efforts to link academics to society, doctoral students are not supported by universities/research institutes nor are doctoral students trained for this purpose, including regarding such threats as offensive posts. Additionally, more comprehensive information is disclosed in academic social networks, but these networks are less common and less frequently used.
Research limitations/implications - International doctoral students in Lithuania cover about 4.4 per cent of the total population of doctoral students. They were not invited to participate in the survey. Furthermore, doctoral students consider any online social network as their professional (academic) network, as was found from our results. This
resulted in the confusion of our definition of academic online social networks.
Practical implications - Learning about the diverse online roles doctoral students may take could be facilitated were doctoral students to receive clear and consistent awareness raising and develop self-awareness in the importance of the roles, the most central online social networks and potential threats, and related institutional support to address them.
Originality/value - This study provides results on how engagement of doctoral students in online social networks might affect their links with society and what academic institutions should promote in doctoral education.
This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learn... more This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning.
This report could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learn... more This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning.
This report could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
International Journal for Educational Integrity, 2017
In this paper we cast light on one form of dishonest behaviour in academia – contract cheating se... more In this paper we cast light on one form of dishonest behaviour in academia – contract cheating services. We examine how an agreement between a student and a contract cheating services provider is viewed from ethical and legal perspectives. For this purpose we carried out an analysis of contract cheating services as an agreement which, in Lithuania, is currently facing the challenge of implementing laws regarding contract cheating services as a violation of academic ethics. Taking into consideration recent jurisprudence, together with social media articles, we conclude that while any agreement for contract cheating services is severely criticized in terms of ethics, the courts either do not regard this type of agreement as a violation of legal norms, or they inadequately apply legal remedies when such an agreement is deemed to be void.
Public engagement (PE) has become an important theme of research and innovation (R&I) activity in... more Public engagement (PE) has become an important theme of research and innovation (R&I) activity in several countries. In Europe, which is the main focus of this paper, the European Commission – by setting PE as a key thematic element of its policy for responsible research and innovation (RRI) – has promoted fundamental changes in the ways that civil society and other stakeholders outside the scientific community influence, and are expected to influence research activities. Promoting PE means giving more weight to citizens and stakeholders in the definition of research needs, in the critical reflection of current and future research priorities, and in the implementation of R&I activities. In this paper we analyse the trends and characteristics of innovative PE based on a recent international study of such processes, and discuss how PE can contribute to more dynamic and responsible governance of research and innovation.
Clear definitions of terms related to academic integrity help to resolve difficulties arising fro... more Clear definitions of terms related to academic integrity help to resolve difficulties arising from academic dishonesty. However, in practice the interpretation of these terms makes investigation of dishonest behaviour rather difficult. Naturally, there are more terms relating to academic misconduct than to academic conduct. Within the frame of definitions of academic integrity and related terms, this paper presents the Erasmus Plus project 'European Network for Academic Integrity'; particularly one of its sub-outputs concerning the construction of a glossary. The glossary of academic integrity and related terms is based on a variety of credible sources, varying from documents issued by reputable international organisations to research papers where empirical data reveal academic misconduct related practices and cite real-life examples. The latter source enriches the glossary with terms on very specific deviations, and demonstrates the range of misconduct that serves to inspire the development of new terms. The aim of creating the glossary is to raise awareness in the matters of plagiarism, academic ethics, scholarly values and academic integrity. The paper discusses reasoning for the development of such a glossary, the process of collecting terms and developing their definitions as well as the first results of this process.
In the academic setting as in any organization legal norms prevail and are assumed to be congruen... more In the academic setting as in any organization legal norms prevail and are assumed to be congruent with ethical norms. Nevertheless, there are cases when the ratio of ethical and legal norms is inadequate and disproportional, especially those dealing with socially responsible decisions in academia. For this reason, the aim here is to analyse incongruences of ethical and legal norms related to the revocation of doctoral degrees in Lithuania, illustrated with examples of deviant behaviour by academic degree holders in terms of decisions of the courts and the ombudsman for academic ethics. Lithuania, being a Member State of the European Union, is currently facing the challenge of implementing newly-adopted laws related to the revocation of doctoral degrees. Accordingly, data were collected from available online official sources to gain more comprehensive evidence, and then analysed using the inductive approach of qualitative content analysis. Research findings show that there is still a thin line between ethical and legal norms, and this line fluctuates depending on nuanced considerations. This is to say that it is still problematical to dress ethical principles in legal clothing.
Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in... more Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in Lithuania was addressed in 2009 by the national decision to establish an Office of Ombudsman for Academic Ethics and Procedures (Office). The decision was taken during the approval of the revised Law on Higher Education and Research by the Parliament of Lithuania. Following two failed attempts to appoint an ombudsman, the Office began to function in 2014. Since then, the ombudsman, alongside other state institutions, has been empowered to implement national higher education and research policy. At the outset of the Office activity it is important to consider how public HERIs institutionalise academic integrity, i.e. how they create an ethical environment within the academic community and what means are used to support it further. Collecting data from codes of ethics, regulations of academic integrity committees and interviews, data analysis shows that academic values manifest unevenly in teaching/learning and research. Most efforts concern the behaviour of students rather than the behaviour of academic staff (teachers and researchers). Moreover, ethics infrastructure gives a misleading image, as it lacks harmony and compatibility, despite the fact that there is a myriad of means to foster ethical behaviour. Universities should make greater effort to connect academic values with operations in teaching/learning and research.
The university mission is considered as its social function, and the university is a pivot of str... more The university mission is considered as its social function, and the university is a pivot of strategic social transformation. The culture of changes mostly tends to increase the organisational flexibility and orientation towards the market needs. In embracing changes, individual researchers, units and organisations should build a more competitive and entrepreneurial approach and be more accountable for the performance. The integration of declared principles, values and commitments into the overall organisational activities, managerial processes and practices creates added value for the institutionalisation of university social responsibility. In this respect, the aim of this paper is to examine empirically how vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties comprehend and manage social responsibility in research performance. Fifteen informants were interviewed: vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties, representing at least six Lithuanian state universities. Using the method of semi-structured interview the collected data were then analysed in the context of the grounded theory. The research findings demonstrate that the vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties formally understand the responsibility; while it indicates the narrow attitude to both mission and responsibility of the university. Such perception of responsibility hampers the development of university social responsibility with corresponding societal expectations, and its systematic implementation in internal processes.
Conference Presentations by Loreta Tauginiene
Purpose – Today researcher’s competence must rapidly increase and transform into the three-dimens... more Purpose – Today researcher’s competence must rapidly increase and transform into the three-dimensional conception: a good researcher can be defined as a person who teaches, researches and performs administrative functions. These three dimensions highlight the complete commitment of researcher to the surrounding (academic) community. This paper focuses on doctoral studies development as a starting point for the professionalism in research, and look at the compliance of university commitment to train high level academic with doctoral candidate’s skills for the abovementioned three-dimensional conception, i.e. how university responsibility manifests in managing this issue, what risks it confronted with.
Design/ methodology/ approach – The paper examines one of the largest universities in social sciences, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania, chronologically, from 2009 till now, in terms of doctoral curricula development. Using a mixed questionnaire, former doctoral candidates performing their academic activities at university were examined. The sample was selected on purposive sampling method considering that SR and transferable skills are in conjuncture of social sciences, particularly in MA. The collected data were then analyzed in two perspectives: qualitatively and quantitatively.
Findings – The results of the research show that doing research is considered to be the main researcher’s competence; however, the necessity of transferable skills is left on the bottom of the three-dimensional functionality.
Research limitations/ implications – Due to limitations of time, this paper does not examine the transferable skills’ value creation in the context whether young researchers participated in transferable skills training or not, and how transferable skills training contributes to career development.
Originality/ value – This paper, firstly, outlines how Lithuania, participant of Bologna process and less experienced in European higher education area, manages the implementation of transferable skills into doctoral training. Secondly, the data and implications drawn from Lithuanian case create an international added-value to the context of university social responsibility.
Books by Loreta Tauginiene
The field of public participation is developing fast, with phenomena such as citizen science and ... more The field of public participation is developing fast, with phenomena such as citizen science and crowdsourcing extending the resource base of research, stimulating innovation and making science more accessible to the general population. Promoting public participation means giving more weight to citizens and civil society actors in the definition of research needs and in the implementation of research and innovation. As yet, there is limited understanding of the implications of widespread use of public participation and as a result, there is a risk that it will become a burden for research and an obstacle to bridging the gap between research and society. This volume presents the findings of a three-year international study on innovative public participation. The resulting work studies the characteristics and trends of innovative public participation through a global sample of 38 case studies. It provides theoretical generalisations on the dynamics of public participation, suggestions for an evaluation framework and clear empirical examples of how public participation works in practice. Illustrated by best practice cases, the authors identify characteristics which contribute to successful public participation. The book is aimed primarily at scholars and practitioners of public participation, as well as research managers, policy makers and business actors interested in related issues. There is also a secondary market for students and scholars of European governance studies, sociology and political sciences.
Grounded theory (GT) is a qualitative methodology, which derives its name from the practice of ge... more Grounded theory (GT) is a qualitative methodology, which derives its name from the practice of generating theory from research, which is grounded in data (Babchuk 1997). Three GT methodologies have evolved, namely B.G. Glaser’s classic, A.L. Strauss and J. Corbin’s structured and K. Charmaz’s (1983, 2005, 2006, 2014) social constructivist methodology.
The thematic analysis based on GT is usually called applied thematic analysis (ATA) (Braun and Clarke 2006). As GT is designed to construct theories that are grounded in the empirical data themselves (Guest et al. 2012) this aspect is also reflected in ATA because its process also consists of reading transcripts, identifying and comparing themes, and building theoretical models (Boyatzis 1998).
Stakeholders, Governance and Responsibility (Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Volume 14) (Eds. Shahla Seifi and David Crowther ), 2018
This chapter guides the reader to an understanding of social responsibility in educational settin... more This chapter guides the reader to an understanding of social responsibility in educational settings, namely on school/university social responsibility (USR). The phenomenon of social responsibility in these settings is nuanced when encountering stakeholders, either external or internal. This chapter conceptualizes school/USR and describes related stakeholders and their management strategies. In addition to this, the chapter discusses eight transition lines of stakeholders developed on the expectations of stakeholders, the degree and the format of engagement and impacts on society and institutions: pupil–student; teachers-academics; parents; alumni; future employers; business sector; funding providers; and society at large. It concludes that a managerial pattern while implementing social responsibility by involving stakeholders differs by educational setting. This is to say that school social responsibility is rather carried out through process, whereas USR concerns both process and outputs. This distinction results in introducing the definition of school/USR as a commitment toward performance based on ethical and other conventional principles that are respectively substantiated in the mission, values and related activities in the interplay with all possible stakeholders in order to create social value foremost.
This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through lea... more This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning. This glossary could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through lea... more This glossary serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning. This glossary could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
Palgrave Communications, 2020
Citizen science evolved through multiple disciplinary manifestations into a new field of study an... more Citizen science evolved through multiple disciplinary manifestations into a new field of study and a participatory method of enquiry. While most citizen science projects take place within problem-focused natural sciences, social sciences and humanities help understanding the human dimension and open a broad methodological spectrum for enriching scientific research with new approaches and for boosting public participation. In this paper, we use a meta-synthesis approach to explore how citizen science is practised in the so far less addressed social sciences and humanities by focusing on the role of the citizens, the goals and approaches of the projects, the tasks in which citizens are engaged and their gains across projects of diverse disciplinary background. Our findings indicate that social sciences are gaining more acknowledgment within interdisciplinary citizen science projects by addressing 'wicked' problems of human behaviour and agency, while humanities are in quest of a better-defined locus in citizen science. We conclude that social sciences and humanities still face considerable barriers to infiltrate citizen science; the payoffs are substantial and already rewarding for several subfields in social sciences and humanities.
Aiškinamasis akademinio sąžiningumo terminų žodynas: vertimas į lietuvių kalbą
Journal of Academic Ethics, 2019
A clear understanding of terminology is crucial in any academic field. When it is clear that comp... more A clear understanding of terminology is crucial in any academic field. When it is clear that complex interdisciplinary concepts are interpreted differently depending on the academic field, geographical setting or cultural values, it is time to take action. Given this, the Glossary for Academic Integrity, newly developed by the European Network for Academic Integrity project, served as the basis for compiling a comprehensive taxonomy of terms related to academic integrity. Following a rigorous coding exercise, the taxon-omy was partitioned into three constituent components-Integrity, Misconduct and Neutral terms. A review of relevant literature sources is included, and the strengths and weaknesses of existing taxonomies are discussed in relation to this new offering. During the creation of these artefacts the authors identified and resolved many differences between their individual interpretative understandings of concepts/terms and the viewpoints of others. It is anticipated that the freely-available glossary and taxonomy will be explored and valued by researchers, teachers, students and the general public alike.
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2019
This report aims to enhance our understanding of stakeholder mapping for co-created citizen scien... more This report aims to enhance our understanding of stakeholder mapping for co-created citizen science initiatives. It presents and discusses findings from an international two-day stakeholder mapping workshop with researchers, event organizers, communication experts, and artists realizing citizen science activities. Participants identified examples of co-creation in their work and mapped stakeholders for three co-creation initiatives from the “Doing It Together Science” project. For each case, we provide an overview of the stakeholder groups involved and the lessons derived from identifying actual and potential stakeholders in different phases of each activity and using different ways for mapping them. We demonstrate that not only stakeholder mapping can be diverse, but it may take different angles depending on the characteristics and project timescales, nevertheless adding significant value to any project. We argue that a better understanding of stakeholder involvement may contribute to more effective stakeholder communication, more successful implementation, and a greater impact for citizen science initiatives.
Purpose - This paper aims to examine the use of online social networks by doctoral students. Des... more Purpose - This paper aims to examine the use of online social networks by doctoral students.
Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative online survey was conducted – 448 doctoral students from 15 universities and 11 research institutes in Lithuania were asked about their participation in both academic and non-academic online social networks.
Findings - The results show that despite efforts to link academics to society, doctoral students are not supported by universities/research institutes nor are doctoral students trained for this purpose, including regarding such threats as offensive posts. Additionally, more comprehensive information is disclosed in academic social networks, but these networks are less common and less frequently used.
Research limitations/implications - International doctoral students in Lithuania cover about 4.4 per cent of the total population of doctoral students. They were not invited to participate in the survey. Furthermore, doctoral students consider any online social network as their professional (academic) network, as was found from our results. This
resulted in the confusion of our definition of academic online social networks.
Practical implications - Learning about the diverse online roles doctoral students may take could be facilitated were doctoral students to receive clear and consistent awareness raising and develop self-awareness in the importance of the roles, the most central online social networks and potential threats, and related institutional support to address them.
Originality/value - This study provides results on how engagement of doctoral students in online social networks might affect their links with society and what academic institutions should promote in doctoral education.
This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learn... more This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning.
This report could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learn... more This report serves as a basis to further common understanding on academic integrity through learning new terms and rediscovering old terms in new contexts. The need for this document derives from the variety of terms that are commonly used, but under different contexts. In this sense, we attempted to arrive at a common meaning.
This report could be of value to national ombudspersons, judicial authorities, compliance officers, research project managers and other related bodies or units in academia as well as students, business sector and others.
International Journal for Educational Integrity, 2017
In this paper we cast light on one form of dishonest behaviour in academia – contract cheating se... more In this paper we cast light on one form of dishonest behaviour in academia – contract cheating services. We examine how an agreement between a student and a contract cheating services provider is viewed from ethical and legal perspectives. For this purpose we carried out an analysis of contract cheating services as an agreement which, in Lithuania, is currently facing the challenge of implementing laws regarding contract cheating services as a violation of academic ethics. Taking into consideration recent jurisprudence, together with social media articles, we conclude that while any agreement for contract cheating services is severely criticized in terms of ethics, the courts either do not regard this type of agreement as a violation of legal norms, or they inadequately apply legal remedies when such an agreement is deemed to be void.
Public engagement (PE) has become an important theme of research and innovation (R&I) activity in... more Public engagement (PE) has become an important theme of research and innovation (R&I) activity in several countries. In Europe, which is the main focus of this paper, the European Commission – by setting PE as a key thematic element of its policy for responsible research and innovation (RRI) – has promoted fundamental changes in the ways that civil society and other stakeholders outside the scientific community influence, and are expected to influence research activities. Promoting PE means giving more weight to citizens and stakeholders in the definition of research needs, in the critical reflection of current and future research priorities, and in the implementation of R&I activities. In this paper we analyse the trends and characteristics of innovative PE based on a recent international study of such processes, and discuss how PE can contribute to more dynamic and responsible governance of research and innovation.
Clear definitions of terms related to academic integrity help to resolve difficulties arising fro... more Clear definitions of terms related to academic integrity help to resolve difficulties arising from academic dishonesty. However, in practice the interpretation of these terms makes investigation of dishonest behaviour rather difficult. Naturally, there are more terms relating to academic misconduct than to academic conduct. Within the frame of definitions of academic integrity and related terms, this paper presents the Erasmus Plus project 'European Network for Academic Integrity'; particularly one of its sub-outputs concerning the construction of a glossary. The glossary of academic integrity and related terms is based on a variety of credible sources, varying from documents issued by reputable international organisations to research papers where empirical data reveal academic misconduct related practices and cite real-life examples. The latter source enriches the glossary with terms on very specific deviations, and demonstrates the range of misconduct that serves to inspire the development of new terms. The aim of creating the glossary is to raise awareness in the matters of plagiarism, academic ethics, scholarly values and academic integrity. The paper discusses reasoning for the development of such a glossary, the process of collecting terms and developing their definitions as well as the first results of this process.
In the academic setting as in any organization legal norms prevail and are assumed to be congruen... more In the academic setting as in any organization legal norms prevail and are assumed to be congruent with ethical norms. Nevertheless, there are cases when the ratio of ethical and legal norms is inadequate and disproportional, especially those dealing with socially responsible decisions in academia. For this reason, the aim here is to analyse incongruences of ethical and legal norms related to the revocation of doctoral degrees in Lithuania, illustrated with examples of deviant behaviour by academic degree holders in terms of decisions of the courts and the ombudsman for academic ethics. Lithuania, being a Member State of the European Union, is currently facing the challenge of implementing newly-adopted laws related to the revocation of doctoral degrees. Accordingly, data were collected from available online official sources to gain more comprehensive evidence, and then analysed using the inductive approach of qualitative content analysis. Research findings show that there is still a thin line between ethical and legal norms, and this line fluctuates depending on nuanced considerations. This is to say that it is still problematical to dress ethical principles in legal clothing.
Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in... more Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in Lithuania was addressed in 2009 by the national decision to establish an Office of Ombudsman for Academic Ethics and Procedures (Office). The decision was taken during the approval of the revised Law on Higher Education and Research by the Parliament of Lithuania. Following two failed attempts to appoint an ombudsman, the Office began to function in 2014. Since then, the ombudsman, alongside other state institutions, has been empowered to implement national higher education and research policy. At the outset of the Office activity it is important to consider how public HERIs institutionalise academic integrity, i.e. how they create an ethical environment within the academic community and what means are used to support it further. Collecting data from codes of ethics, regulations of academic integrity committees and interviews, data analysis shows that academic values manifest unevenly in teaching/learning and research. Most efforts concern the behaviour of students rather than the behaviour of academic staff (teachers and researchers). Moreover, ethics infrastructure gives a misleading image, as it lacks harmony and compatibility, despite the fact that there is a myriad of means to foster ethical behaviour. Universities should make greater effort to connect academic values with operations in teaching/learning and research.
The university mission is considered as its social function, and the university is a pivot of str... more The university mission is considered as its social function, and the university is a pivot of strategic social transformation. The culture of changes mostly tends to increase the organisational flexibility and orientation towards the market needs. In embracing changes, individual researchers, units and organisations should build a more competitive and entrepreneurial approach and be more accountable for the performance. The integration of declared principles, values and commitments into the overall organisational activities, managerial processes and practices creates added value for the institutionalisation of university social responsibility. In this respect, the aim of this paper is to examine empirically how vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties comprehend and manage social responsibility in research performance. Fifteen informants were interviewed: vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties, representing at least six Lithuanian state universities. Using the method of semi-structured interview the collected data were then analysed in the context of the grounded theory. The research findings demonstrate that the vice-rectors for research and deans of faculties formally understand the responsibility; while it indicates the narrow attitude to both mission and responsibility of the university. Such perception of responsibility hampers the development of university social responsibility with corresponding societal expectations, and its systematic implementation in internal processes.
Purpose – Today researcher’s competence must rapidly increase and transform into the three-dimens... more Purpose – Today researcher’s competence must rapidly increase and transform into the three-dimensional conception: a good researcher can be defined as a person who teaches, researches and performs administrative functions. These three dimensions highlight the complete commitment of researcher to the surrounding (academic) community. This paper focuses on doctoral studies development as a starting point for the professionalism in research, and look at the compliance of university commitment to train high level academic with doctoral candidate’s skills for the abovementioned three-dimensional conception, i.e. how university responsibility manifests in managing this issue, what risks it confronted with.
Design/ methodology/ approach – The paper examines one of the largest universities in social sciences, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania, chronologically, from 2009 till now, in terms of doctoral curricula development. Using a mixed questionnaire, former doctoral candidates performing their academic activities at university were examined. The sample was selected on purposive sampling method considering that SR and transferable skills are in conjuncture of social sciences, particularly in MA. The collected data were then analyzed in two perspectives: qualitatively and quantitatively.
Findings – The results of the research show that doing research is considered to be the main researcher’s competence; however, the necessity of transferable skills is left on the bottom of the three-dimensional functionality.
Research limitations/ implications – Due to limitations of time, this paper does not examine the transferable skills’ value creation in the context whether young researchers participated in transferable skills training or not, and how transferable skills training contributes to career development.
Originality/ value – This paper, firstly, outlines how Lithuania, participant of Bologna process and less experienced in European higher education area, manages the implementation of transferable skills into doctoral training. Secondly, the data and implications drawn from Lithuanian case create an international added-value to the context of university social responsibility.
The field of public participation is developing fast, with phenomena such as citizen science and ... more The field of public participation is developing fast, with phenomena such as citizen science and crowdsourcing extending the resource base of research, stimulating innovation and making science more accessible to the general population. Promoting public participation means giving more weight to citizens and civil society actors in the definition of research needs and in the implementation of research and innovation. As yet, there is limited understanding of the implications of widespread use of public participation and as a result, there is a risk that it will become a burden for research and an obstacle to bridging the gap between research and society. This volume presents the findings of a three-year international study on innovative public participation. The resulting work studies the characteristics and trends of innovative public participation through a global sample of 38 case studies. It provides theoretical generalisations on the dynamics of public participation, suggestions for an evaluation framework and clear empirical examples of how public participation works in practice. Illustrated by best practice cases, the authors identify characteristics which contribute to successful public participation. The book is aimed primarily at scholars and practitioners of public participation, as well as research managers, policy makers and business actors interested in related issues. There is also a secondary market for students and scholars of European governance studies, sociology and political sciences.
Grounded theory (GT) is a qualitative methodology, which derives its name from the practice of ge... more Grounded theory (GT) is a qualitative methodology, which derives its name from the practice of generating theory from research, which is grounded in data (Babchuk 1997). Three GT methodologies have evolved, namely B.G. Glaser’s classic, A.L. Strauss and J. Corbin’s structured and K. Charmaz’s (1983, 2005, 2006, 2014) social constructivist methodology.
The thematic analysis based on GT is usually called applied thematic analysis (ATA) (Braun and Clarke 2006). As GT is designed to construct theories that are grounded in the empirical data themselves (Guest et al. 2012) this aspect is also reflected in ATA because its process also consists of reading transcripts, identifying and comparing themes, and building theoretical models (Boyatzis 1998).
Stakeholders, Governance and Responsibility (Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Volume 14) (Eds. Shahla Seifi and David Crowther ), 2018
This chapter guides the reader to an understanding of social responsibility in educational settin... more This chapter guides the reader to an understanding of social responsibility in educational settings, namely on school/university social responsibility (USR). The phenomenon of social responsibility in these settings is nuanced when encountering stakeholders, either external or internal. This chapter conceptualizes school/USR and describes related stakeholders and their management strategies. In addition to this, the chapter discusses eight transition lines of stakeholders developed on the expectations of stakeholders, the degree and the format of engagement and impacts on society and institutions: pupil–student; teachers-academics; parents; alumni; future employers; business sector; funding providers; and society at large. It concludes that a managerial pattern while implementing social responsibility by involving stakeholders differs by educational setting. This is to say that school social responsibility is rather carried out through process, whereas USR concerns both process and outputs. This distinction results in introducing the definition of school/USR as a commitment toward performance based on ethical and other conventional principles that are respectively substantiated in the mission, values and related activities in the interplay with all possible stakeholders in order to create social value foremost.
Chapter on RRI ar European universities